page_title: Jim Ryun
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Jim Ryun / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump presents legendary American runner and former U.S. Representative Jim Ryun with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday, July 24, 2020, in the Blue Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
context_page_description: James Ronald "Jim" Ryun is an American former politician and Olympic track and field athlete, who at his peak was widely considered the world's top middle-distance runner. He won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. He is the last American to hold the world record in the mile run. Ryun later served in the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, representing Kansas' 2nd congressional district for the Republican Party.
context_section_description: Ryun was born in Wichita, Kansas. He now lives in Lawrence, though he was listed in the House roll as "R-Topeka." He also owns a farm in Jefferson County.
  Ryun met his wife, Anne, when she asked him for an autograph after he broke the world record for the mile in Berkeley. They married in 1969 and have four children and seven grandchildren. He and his sons, Ned Ryun and Drew, have co-authored three books: Heroes Among Us, The Courage to Run, and  In Quest of Gold – The Jim Ryun Story.
  After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1970 with a degree in photojournalism, Ryun moved to Eugene, Oregon; looking for a good training situation to continue his track career. Six months later, he moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he and his family remained for nine years. He and his family moved back to Lawrence in 1981.
  Raised in the Church of Christ, Ryun and his wife are members of Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.
  President Donald Trump awarded Jim Ryun the Presidential Medal of Freedom on July 24, 2020.
caption: Ryun is presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2020
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